


The Green SOUL Could be a Meaniehead

by ArgentDandelion



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Character Analysis, Ethics, Gen, Justice, Kindness, Nonfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2020-09-07 19:03:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20314486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgentDandelion/pseuds/ArgentDandelion
Summary: Covers how virtues and traits may be subjective and vary in different situations, and how someone with a particular SOUL color might not act in a way that's typical or expected for a particular trait.





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> The chapters of this work are extra-short, around 450 words. Given its short total length, reading this all at once is feasible.

**Part 1**, [Part 2](http://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/175519325437/the-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-2), [Part 3](http://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/175757393855/the-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-3)

**Introduction**

In _Undertale_, six colors, the colors of the six human SOULs collected by monsterkind, are strongly associated with certain concepts. In the _Undertale_ fandom, these are often interpreted as virtues each fallen human embodied. But how can people be sure each human truly embodied the associated virtues?

According to [Wikipedia](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FVirtue&t=NDlmNzhiZmI2ZTczMzM5NWNkM2ZjY2MyYzY3Mjg4NTNhZTE1NjU5Miw3T2lYZktkcQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AHZZTbr56CX-Pu8cYzedJTw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fargentdandelion.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F175284345951%2Fthe-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-1&m=1), the definition of “virtue” is:

> A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. Personal virtues are characteristics valued as promoting collective and individual greatness.

Each culture prizes different virtues, behaviors, and attitudes. In some languages, a single virtue, as interpreted within the language, can encompass a broad variety of behaviors, some of which conflict with each other.

**Cultural Variability**

(Left: Crest of Reliability symbol)  
A single virtue encompassing a broad variety of behaviors is illustrated by the anime _Digimon Adventure._ In this series, a bunch of kids have digital monster (Digimon) partners and [crests](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fdigimon.wikia.com%2Fwiki%2FCrests&t=ZjA1OTUxNzQ1MDY4N2RkMjJiZGQwNzZlMDkyZjQwMjJmMDRhMDhjMyw3T2lYZktkcQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AHZZTbr56CX-Pu8cYzedJTw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fargentdandelion.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F175284345951%2Fthe-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-1&m=1), small tablets that symbolize certain traits/virtues each kid embodies. When a kid demonstrates the trait/virtue that corresponds with that kid’s crest, it glows, and allows for that kid’s Digimon to transform into a stronger form. Most of the crests’ traits/virtues are straightforward, such as “hope”, “courage”, or “love”, but one crest’s corresponding trait/virtue is untranslatable. The crest of “seijitsu”, a Japanese word that literally translates to “to be faithful, sincere, honest, and reliable. Good faith/bona fides”.

It is not that English speakers do not act in a way that represents seijitsu, but that in the English language faithfulness, sincerity, honesty, and reliability are considered separate virtues.[1](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/175284345951/the-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-1#fn:1) For this reason, seijitsu has variously been translated via subs and dubs as “honesty”, “reliability”, and “sincerity”, of which the latter two aren’t commonly described, broad virtues. From the perspective of an English speaker, “seijitsu” encompasses a collection of attitudes or behaviors, not a single attitude or behavior.[2](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/175284345951/the-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-1#fn:2)

In this way, the same virtue may be interpreted differently. But, whether called “reliability” or “sincerity”, surely the crest’s user demonstrates seijitsu in certain actions. This isn’t necessarily true, as the next part covers.

* * *

  1. Though largely about distinguishing colors, [this](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Feducation%2F2014%2Fjan%2F29%2Fhow-words-influence-thought&t=YWNmOTMyYmI1MWFjOTIxMDhiMGExYjkzYTZhM2YwNjNhMmM5YzlmYyw3T2lYZktkcQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AHZZTbr56CX-Pu8cYzedJTw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fargentdandelion.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F175284345951%2Fthe-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-1&m=1) article from _The Guardian_ covers a similar topic on [linguistic relativity](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FLinguistic_relativity&t=YjZkMmIxNWU2OGE3YjQyZDNmODZlMDdlZmM2MWMxMzhhYzdlZjI5MCw3T2lYZktkcQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AHZZTbr56CX-Pu8cYzedJTw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fargentdandelion.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F175284345951%2Fthe-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-1&m=1). [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/175284345951/the-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-1#fnref:1)

  2. The trait of the red SOUL is commonly thought to be “determination”, [but this doesn’t make sense.](http://nochocolate.tumblr.com/post/153875085963/the-red-soul) All human SOULs are determined. (can feel determined/have the substance determination) The most likely trait is instead “being-yourself-ness”, or “sincerity”. Since seijitsu encompasses both “sincerity” and “honesty”, the red and blue SOULs could both be described with the trait of seijitsu. [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/175284345951/the-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-1#fnref:2)


	2. Subjectivity of Virtues

**Subjectivity of Virtues**

Even in the same culture, people may define a particular virtue differently, and disagree on whether an action or motive is virtuous.

**Kindness**

For example, there is a variety of ways to express kindness, and disagreement on whether actions are kind. According to Wikipedia, “Kindness is a behavior marked by ethical characteristics, a pleasant disposition, and concern and consideration for others.” However, it’s possible for these definitions to conflict with each other. For example, by “ethical characteristics”, it is often considered unethical to lie, yet sometimes lying to avoid hurting someone’s feelings is considered kind.

Similarly, some might call “tough love” (say, corporal punishment) kind, but others would call it a form of cruelty.[1](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/175519325437/the-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-2#fn:1) Others may consider ending someone’s misery via killing them to be a “mercy kill” (or, in medical contexts, euthanasia) while others consider the act selfish and cruel.

There are some scenes within _Undertale_ that illustrate ethical dilemmas and the subjectivity of kindness. One occurs upon Asgore’s defeat. When Asgore asks Frisk to take his SOUL (necessitating killing him) so that Frisk may “leave this cursed place”, is it so unkind to accept his offer, finish him off, and leave the Underground?

**Justice**

Just as different people can consider the same action kind or cruel, it is possible for a person to be motivated by a particular ideal (or interpretation of that ideal) but not be perceived as living up to that ideal by others. Indeed, the individual interpretation of the ideal may be so warped as to seem the opposite of the ideal.

For example, Undyne is strongly motivated by the virtue or ideal of justice. She is driven to kill Frisk, a child (one that may have done zero bad things, too) because, to her, humans are nigh-legendary “bad guys” that sealed monsters underground millennia ago. To her, it would be a morally good thing to kill Frisk. To her, she is doing Frisk a favor and considers it an act of mercy to kill them right then.

She is so certain that killing Frisk is the morally correct thing to do that, when confronted with Frisk acting kind and never harming others (not what she expects from a human) she assumes it’s all a “goody two-shoes act” she can see through. In choosing to do what she believes is best, in what is justice, for monsterkind, she fails to consider what is fair and just for Frisk or humans in general.[2](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/175519325437/the-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-2#fn:2) Undyne’s anti-human prejudice therefore clouds her judgment, and so makes her fail to understand the subjectivity of their own the virtue of justice and how it is properly applied.

As virtues are not unchanging, universal constants, but instead sets of thoughts, attitudes, and principles dependent on culture and individual interpretation, it is unlikely that the color of a human’s SOUL reflects a particular defining virtue of a person, or even the strongest of a cluster of motivating virtues.

* * *

  1. For examples, see TVTropes’ page “[Cruel to Be Kind](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Ftvtropes.org%2Fpmwiki%2Fpmwiki.php%2FMain%2FCruelToBeKind&t=N2NmYWFjNWE1NTRkMzI1ZGEzNmMxYjViMTE3Nzg1YzVhNTc2ZWNjNixTODd1a1ZxYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AHZZTbr56CX-Pu8cYzedJTw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fargentdandelion.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F175519325437%2Fthe-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-2&m=1)”. [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/175519325437/the-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-2#fnref:1)

  2. The [lore](http://coffeelemental.tumblr.com/post/170095624632/anomaly-lore-magic-part-ii) for the Undertale fanwork _The Anomaly_ offers a similar perspective when it comes to users of “yellow magic”, which is aligned with the virtue of Justice. It mentions that human yellow magic users can abuse their power and enter “cowboy mode”, where they get “reckless”, which [includes](http://coffeelemental.tumblr.com/post/175056756137/part-1-of-question-in-an-upcoming-post-i) being morally careless with things like “They’re just bad guys; kill them”. [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/175519325437/the-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-2#fnref:2)


	3. Personality Traits

**Personality Traits**

If the associated terms for each are intended as personality descriptors (traits) rather than motivating virtues[1](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/175757393855/the-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-3#fn:1), that brings up another interpretation. Humans do not have one-dimensional personalities. Even a committed goody two-shoes may not be very kind, pleasant, and considerate in all contexts.

In [trait theory](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FTrait_theory&t=NGMxYzZkYzUwYTI3NGYxOGQxY2YzZjMxOTA5NTNiMmZmNGNmMDczOSw2eUdaUGRGaw%3D%3D&b=t%3AHZZTbr56CX-Pu8cYzedJTw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fargentdandelion.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F175757393855%2Fthe-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-3&m=1), personality is measured over seventeen personality traits. In the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire ([16PF](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2F16PF_Questionnaire&t=NDM0YjNkNDM4ZTliMzQ5NmE3NGZiY2VlNDZhMGFkZGFhMjY3ZDQ3Miw2eUdaUGRGaw%3D%3D&b=t%3AHZZTbr56CX-Pu8cYzedJTw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fargentdandelion.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F175757393855%2Fthe-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-3&m=1)) personality is measured over sixteen traits. Some of the traits correspond with the virtues/traits of the fallen humans before Frisk, but the 16PF traits do not match up neatly.

For example, boldness and being socially outgoing (or “socially bold”) are measured separately on the 16PF. It’s certainly possible for a person (say, the Orange SOUL) to be bold in combat scenarios but timid in social ones.[2](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/175757393855/the-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-3#fn:2) Different aspects of personality and motivations may also conflict in interesting ways: Papyrus is a “skeleton with standards” who apparently doesn’t want to lie, yet he lies about loving grease in a phone call Undyne because the trait “honest” conflicts with the trait/desire “wants friends”.

It is therefore possible that the Green SOUL is mean in some contexts, kind in others, or kind and mean at the same time. It is also possible that, though the Green SOUL strives to be kind, their idea of kindness is so warped they don’t appear kind to others. Therefore, just because a human has a Green SOUL doesn’t mean they’re a compassionate and invariably kind pacifist. In fact, the Green SOUL could very well be a “meaniehead”.

  
_(Lookin’ at you, jerk.)_

* * *

  1. On a related note, there are [nineteen](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FVirtue%23Roman_virtues&t=OGMwMDYyNmY2MTg0MjA3YWNjNGRlNDg4YTNkNDg1NmNmOGI1ZDAzNCw2eUdaUGRGaw%3D%3D&b=t%3AHZZTbr56CX-Pu8cYzedJTw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fargentdandelion.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F175757393855%2Fthe-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-3&m=1) primary Roman virtues. Were _Undertale_ to be made under a Roman point of view, perhaps twenty SOULs would be needed to break the barrier. [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/175757393855/the-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-3#fnref:1)

  2. Imagine Courage the cowardly dog (from the [show of the same name](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FCourage_the_Cowardly_Dog&t=MTY5ZDVjZjdlMmExYTY1NDI4Y2U4M2FhZGE5NDcyZGYxNTkyMjk0MSw2eUdaUGRGaw%3D%3D&b=t%3AHZZTbr56CX-Pu8cYzedJTw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fargentdandelion.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F175757393855%2Fthe-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-3&m=1)), who is simultaneously courageous and cowardly in different contexts. Given a choice, Courage would rather run away or hide from danger, but he’s loyal to his owner Muriel, and therefore would do something courageous to rescue her from the episode’s antagonist. (Flyingwerekitty has pointed out [something similar](https://flyingwerekitty.tumblr.com/post/175062913046/headcanon-about-soul-traits-in-undertale-the-soul) about being both brave and cowardly at different times.) [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/175757393855/the-green-soul-could-be-a-meaniehead-part-3#fnref:2)


End file.
